2.15.2011

Sleepy Words

Here are some sleep-related words and their meanings that you can throw around during this hibernation season:

Somniloquist, noun: sleep talker

Hypnopompic, adj: prewaking

Torpor, noun: state of sluggishness

Quiescent, adj: at rest

Bruxism, noun: teeth grinding

Soporific, adj: sleep-inducing

Did you know there were words for all these things? Feel free to use them to impress your friends. For example:

"Danny's wife's bruxism often woke him throughout the night, so he found himself in a torpor most days. If that wasn't enough, she was also a somniloquist in her hypnopompic state! Danny loved his wife, but he cherished Sunday afternoons when he could read a boring soporific book and finally be quiescent napping on the couch."

See? You probably wouldn't have understood that story at all 24 hours ago. :)